Elemental Strain
by GameCubeGirl1
Summary: Cole is feeling rather sore from using his super strength too much lately, Jay thinks he may have a way to help him out. Soon to be very fluffy and full of warm fuzzies :) Bonus Chapter now added!
1. Chapter 1

**This was originally going to be one big one-shot, but I figured it might work better in more manageable chunks. May be 3 chapters tops, but I promise it will eventually give you all the warm fuzzies :)**

* * *

Cole was sore.

Very sore.

So sore he could have sworn he'd aged about 70 years overnight, he felt like an old man with arthritic joints.

Every movement was slow and sluggish, every muscle knotted and tight, groaning in protest.

And all he'd done was sit up in bed.

He reached over to shut off their alarm clock, noticing that even that small movement produced a grunt of pain.

The other occupants of the shared bunk room were already up for the day, judging by all the neatly-made beds. They must've decided to let Cole sleep on a little more.

Which he was grateful for, you had to love the others sometimes, you really did.

With another grunt of exertion, he swung his feet over the edge of his bed and slowly stood up, arching his back and producing a cracking sound.

He'd only walked from his bed to their bedroom door when he had to stop and arch his back again, feeling his muscles stiffen in protest. Pausing with his hand on the doorknob, he started to ponder what was worth more: the promise of a mouth-watering breakfast made by Zane…

…or the urge to just lie back down and rest his aching muscles, and probably never get up again.

Very few things in life made Cole turn down food, the pain in his back and shoulders was quickly rising to the top of his list. That and the one time Jay had projectile vomited all over the breakfast table trying to prove rotten eggs were safe to eat, having read somewhere that fermented eggs were a delicacy in other regions.

Needless to say, it was weeks before either of them would even think of looking at an egg again without retching.

The reason for Coles pain however was actually rather simple when you think about it. As the master of earth, having super-strength as part of your elemental powers did have its advantages.

But it came with its fair share of disadvantages.

Lately he'd been using his super-strength a lot on their missions. None of the others ever seemed to realise that super-strength wasn't just a magic trick Cole could perform whenever needed at the drop of a hat.

It took _energy._

It took _muscle._

And it produced _strain._

Of course, fire, water, lightning and ice also used up energy…

…but they didn't put anywhere near as much of a strain on their users bodies as Coles super-strength did.

The other elements were made up of energy after all:

Fire was produced from Kai's hand by combusting the gases in the air around his open palm and producing a flame almost instantly.

A combination of gases created droplets of water around Nya's hands in a similar fashion.

Lowering the temperature in the surrounding air produced ice crystals on Zanes palm..

And manipulating the positive and negative charges in the surrounding air produced static electricity in Jay's palms that he could easily control.

But super-strength? That took effort and muscle-power. Sure it was part of Coles earth powers but the energy to lift things 100 times heavier than himself had to come from somewhere.

And lately the exertion had been getting to him.

Normally the ninja had time to rest and recuperate after each mission, whether it be fighting bad guys, high-speed car chases, or just rescuing cats from trees when things were quiet.

But recently it was one minor mission after another, usually involving Cole lifting something heavy, and it was beginning to take its toll.

There had been quite a number of traffic accidents in Ninjago City lately, the population was forever increasing but the roads weren't improving to compensate for the extra traffic, and instead of the emergency services using expensive equipment to shift cars and other wreckages out of the way, it was easier (and far cheaper) for them to just call upon the ninja for help and have the Master of Earth effortlessly do the heavy work for them.

For weeks now Cole had been lifting wrecked cars single-handedly from pile-ups, moving massive stone pipes and iron bars that had fallen off of transport trucks, righting up-turned lorries and whatever other manual labour the emergency services needed him to do.

It was beginning to be too much. He never seemed to have proper time to rest until the next mission called upon his strength again, and this ultimately led to his current condition.

Ending his train of thought however, Cole ultimately chose breakfast. He couldn't ignore the mouth-watering smell of Zanes bacon and eggs if his life depended on it.

Besides, the others would worry if he didn't show up at all.

Cole slowly shuffled his way into the kitchen and plopped down into his usual chair at the kitchen table with a heavy sigh.

The others were already seated and munching away, conversing with each other in-between mouthfuls.

"Oh hey Cole! We were just wondering what was taking.." Kai started with a friendly greeting, but upon Coles arrival his face twisted into concern. "Woah Cole, you okay man? You look…kinda burnt out."

"Yeah I'm okay just..a bit worse for wear." Cole waved a hand of dismissal at Kai, he was fine really, just weary.

"You do appear to be displaying signs of exhaustion Cole, perhaps a day off is in order?" Offered Zane, as he placed a plate in front of Cole, with his usual double-helping of bacon and eggs.

"Nah I'm good, I appreciate the offer but it wouldn't be fair on you guys." Cole was never one to put himself first, the safety of his brothers would always be his top priority. Though it could be a curse sometimes because it meant Cole usually wouldn't let himself be taken care of, even if he came off worse.

Thinking the topic was done with, Cole eagerly dug in, a satisfied smile graced his lips at just how _good_ Zanes cooking was.

"You know, it wouldn't kill ya to take a break Cole, don't be a boulder-brain all your life." Jay quipped, pointing his fork accusingly at Cole.

Cole rolled his eyes good-naturedly at Jay; it was just like Jay to hide his concern behind a snide remark.

"Yeah yeah bolt-head, I'll think about it, happy?"

"Yes!"

"Good, can I continue eating now?"

"Did you ever need permission before?" Jay couldn't help get a jibe in, knowing Coles eating habits all too well.

The others had to stifle their giggles, while Lloyd hid his face in his sleeve to stop from laughing.

Cole only shook his head, though he was smiling. Then, using his fork, flicked a piece of egg at Jay's face, who reflexively ducked, still chuckling at his own joke.

Breakfast continued as normal, the usual chatter along with the usual sloppy eating manners.

Jay however kept glancing at Cole, taking mental notes on how his shoulders were hunched, his head moving stiffly. Now and again he would lean back to stretch his back and Jay caught a very brief scrunch of pain on his face before it disappeared again as he hunched back over to eat.

Cole was definitely in some sort of pain, and Jay was determined to help him out.


	2. Chapter 2

**Here is chapter 2 for your reading pleasure! And wow I've finally realised how to use line-breaks. took me long enough XD**

 **Thank you so much to my reviewers for your support!**

 **And to my guest reviewers that I couldn't reply to:**

 **Guest: Aww I'm so glad chapter 1 made you smile! Hmm true I didn't mention Lloyds hey his would be the same as the others just sort of rolled into one right? :D**

 **NinjagoFangurl7: Aww to you too =3**

* * *

After breakfast they were called upon once again to help out in the city. Much to Coles relief however there was little labour to be done. Despite the others protests for him to take the day off and sit this one out, Cole of course insisted he was fine. To be fair it didn't look like much needed to be done this time so the others reluctantly let him tag along. It was indeed a slow day this time, stopping the odd petty thief and performing some clean-up duties from the recent road accidents, very little heavy lifting this time, much to Coles delight.

Thankfully their duties were over early for once, they could all look forward to an early evening of kicking back and relaxing.

As the ninja walked back into the Airjitsu Temple, Cole made a bee-line for his favourite plush chair in their living room.

Kai, Zane and Lloyd walked in and split off to do their own thing, but Jay paused, noticing Cole becoming one with the chair, resting his feet on the matching footstool. Yet again he was rolling his shoulders, releasing a small paining grunt, looking no better than he did this morning.

It was at that moment an idea struck Jay. He looked around briefly to make sure the others were out of earshot.

Jay hesitantly offered Cole his idea.

Cole raised one quizzical eyebrow at the lightning bug.

"What? Don't you trust me?" Jay asked in a mock-hurt tone.

"Of course I do I just…never knew you knew how to… do that." There was a hint of apprehension in his voice."

"Ehh…been a while since I've practiced I guess." Jay fidgeted a little in embarrassment at the offer, nervously chuckling. It occurred to Jay that this seemed like quite an intimate thing to do for another person, especially one he considered his best friend, maybe it was a bad idea to bring it up..

"So…how?"

"How what?"

"…how do you know how to give massages? It's not something I thought you'd know about."

"Oh that..well..uh.." One hand reached behind his head in embarrassment at the story he was about to tell.

"You see..well you know how I grew up in a junkyard right?" Cole nodded. Jay sat on the arm of Coles chair to continue. "Well..I'd often watch Dad tinker with machines and things for…what seemed like hours on end, I'd keep pestering him to help out whenever I could. But eventually Ma would tell me it's bed time and I'd have no choice but to leave Dad to it.

But sometimes I'd stay awake and watch him from my window, he'd still be working into the early hours of the morning, but it eventually took a strain on his back. When Ma brought him in, she'd sit him down and start rubbing his shoulders, helping his back and stuff. He always looked much happier when she was done.

As time went by and I got older, I'd started to notice her strength wasn't what it used to be, and one particular day she'd sprained her hand trying to loosen a really tight knot on my Dads back and…that was the moment I asked her to teach me how to do it instead."

Cole had been listening intently, rather impressed at Jays noble story.

"So I took over helping Dads back instead and..the rest is history I guess." Jay finished sheepishly.

"Huh..that was actually really sweet of you Jay." Cole grinned at Jay making the lightning master blush at his mushy story coming out.

"But I've never done it for anyone except Dad and Mom, but you kind of seem like you need it so I'm willing to give it a try if it'll help you." Jay gave Cole a sympathetic smile, he didn't like seeing his best friend in pain.

"That is, if you would let me?"

Cole sighed in defeat. "To be perfectly honest, at this point I'm willing to try almost anything. I don't want to keep putting up with this." Cole grimaced again as he arched his back again, producing another crack. Jay winced in sympathy. Cole really did look weary.

"So…how do we do this?"

Jay thought for a moment, hand on his chin.

"I'll bring a stool into my work shop, we can do it there. But I'll have to make sure the others won't disturb us. Give me half an hour and meet me there?

With a tired smile, Cole eagerly replied "Sounds good to me."

* * *

Lloyd was Jays first concern, the kid liked to keep track of what everyone was up to, his excuse was that in an emergency he'd know where everyone was.. but as far as the others were concerned it was pure nosiness, to the point it was an annoyance whenever one of them just wanted some privacy.

Jay figured the best person to distract Lloyd would be the self-proclaimed Green ninja watcher.

He found Kai in the kitchen chomping on an apple while casually leaning against the counter. "Hey uh…Kai? Could you maybe…um.." Jay wasn't sure how to word his request in a way that wouldn't warrant too many questions.

"Spit it out man, what's up?" Kai casually took another bite.

"Would you..be able to keep Lloyd busy for a little while? Cole and I ..uh..well I need his super strength for an invention project I wanna try and..I'd appreciate no interruptions so I could focus."

Kai raised an eyebrow. Jay really didn't want to explain what he was really up to, it was kind of awkward after all and he didn't want the others knowing. Did Kai buy his excuse? Would he ask what it was about? Would he know Jay was lying?

"An invention project you say?"

 _Oh no, think fast, think!_

"Yeah, I just need him to uh… bend some metal parts for me."

Jay tried his best to keep his eyes stern, _sell it Jay, sell it.._

Kai shrugged. "Sure, I can do that."

Phew.

"Aw thanks Kai, I really apprecia-"

"But what should I do?"

Crud.

"What should you do? You don't know of any way to keep Lloyd busy?"

"You know how he is, he likes to keep track of what everyones up to, no matter how many times we say he's just being nosy."

"Just..I don't know, distract him somehow? Play a game with him? Spar with him? Just do whatever it takes to stop him from looking in on us and disturbing us."

"Hmm spar with him you say…" Jay could've sworn he caught a twinkle in Kais eyes.

"Sure, just whatever it takes to keep him busy."

"You're the boss!" Kai mock-saluted to Jay, then slinked away to find Lloyd, half-eaten apple now laying forgotten.

Jay sighed in relief. It would be a little awkward as it was giving his best friend a massage without the others walking in ogling at them and making things more uncomfortable.

* * *

Next up was to find Zane, Zane at least normally kept to himself and always politely knocked before entering a room, but best to ask anyway. Jay walked outside to the training grounds. He heard Kai and Lloyd in a scuffle already.

Good.

Kai was keeping up his end of the bargain.

A brief look around and no Zane, but just as Jay turned to go another away to continue his search, the training grounds were suddenly flooded with loud yelps of laughter.

Followed by various shouts of "No! Stop! Don't you dare!"

Jay couldn't help double-back out of curiosity to see what they were up to now.

His jaw dropped at the scene before him.

At some point Kai must have been throwing various weapons at Lloyd to test his reflexes, but two well-aimed sais had caught Lloyd off guard and he must have raised his arms to defend himself.

Only now the sais had pinned his wrists to two wooden training posts on either side of him.

Leaving Lloyd completely vulnerable…

…to _Kai._

Remembering Jays request to "keep him busy," Kai grinned at Lloyds predicament mischievously.

"Well well." Kai started, feeling rather playful. "Look what we have here! The great and powerful Green Ninja, the prophesised hero , the Ultimate Spinjitzu Master..

"Kai.." Lloyd was suddenly _very_ nervous, squirming furiously as Kai slowly circled him, like a lion stalking its prey.

"Hero to all of Ninjago.."

"K-Kai…what are.."

"At my absolute.." Kai stopped and looked right into Lloyd's eyes, grinning maniacally.

"Mercy!"

Lloyd was paralyzed with fear, eyes wide, a tiny voice in the back of his mind reminded him of the time Kai briefly turned evil thanks to Chens staff of elements.

Kai decided to take his sweet time doing..whatever he planned to do, Lloyd could sweat it out for a little.

He slowly walked behind Lloyd, then stopped, waiting, deliberately toying with Lloyd, making him anxious.

Unable to see what he was up to only made Lloyd more nervous, he tried for all his might to free his hands from the sais, but ultimately failed.

Lloyds mind was screaming, _"This is it, he's going to take me out so he can finally become the Green Ninja, I should've known!"_

Then suddenly out of nowhere..

"No! Kai! Don't you dare..!"

Kai reached from behind and started spidering his fingers up and down Lloyds ribs and stomach.

The result was electric! Lloyd squirmed with all his might but could not escape Kais onslaught.

"Noo! Stop, stop!" Lloyd could barely get each word out inbetween furious boughts of laughter.

"Ohhh such a tough guy now aren't you Mr Green ninja! Let's see you get out of this one though guy!" Kai was loving this. Sure he would always have that tiny pang of jealousy over not being the Green Ninja living somewhere at the back of his mind, but when it came down to it he loved Lloyd dearly, as he did all his brothers.

And..if he was honest with himself, Lloyd needed to laugh more. Ever since banishing his father he didn't seem to join in on the fun much anymore.

So moments like this were rare, Kai would make sure to take full advantage.

Kai stopped briefly to let Lloyd catch his breath. Then just to mess with him, again began slowly walking around him, psyching him out, letting him know he could start again at any moment…

Lloyd was already a nervous wreck.

"Kai come on…you're done right? You…you've had your fun, lemme go!" A smile was clearly in Lloyds voice despite his nervousness, he would never let on but he enjoyed the attention, it kept his mind off other things. Even though this wasn't quite what he had in mind.

Just watching Kai circling him again like a predator had him sweating profusely.

"Had my fun? Oh no my green friend, I have barely begun!" Kai grinned and leapt at Lloyd, this time going for his sides and underarms.

Lloyd shrieked and squirmed, tried with all his might to pull his arms free but the sais were stuck fast. He had no choice but to endure Kais attack while laughing helplessly.

Jay had watched the entire scene, he'd gone completely unnoticed. He couldn't help but beam at them, it was nice to see them bonding again.

With a smile, Jay shook his head and continued on, the sound of Lloyds laughter echoing behind him.

Jay eventually found Zane on the roof of the temple, sitting cross-legged, eyes closed, he appeared to be meditating, paying no heed to the laughter and yells going on down below.

He contemplated climbing up to disturb him and ask how long he would be up here for, but decided against it, Zane wasn't one for barging in on others, he decided to leave him be and hope he didn't come looking for them anytime soon.

As for Nya she had decided to go out for some late-afternoon shopping. "Shopping therapy" she had called it, Jay just shook his head and agreed, never having understood the term.

And so with everyone else taken care of, he could finally take care of someone else, and went in search of Cole.


	3. Chapter 3

**And now for the last chapter! Hopefully with the part you've all been looking :)**

 **Thank you so much again for all of your kind reviews! And thank you to all who added this story to your alerts and favouries!**

 **MightyShipper: I can't reply to you in pm so may as well here! I'd like to think Jay would always help Cole, being besties and all, and I'm glad you enjoy this story so much! I certainly enjoyed writing it :D**

 **Guest: Yay I was aiming for cute! Glad I achieved it XD brotherly ninjas are best ninjas! So nice to read you say? Aww thank you!**

* * *

Jay wasn't surprised in the slightest to find Cole wasn't in his workshop as agreed, but still in his comfy chair, dozing, head slumped to the side.

It was a shame to wake him, but it needed to be done, Jay reached out and gently shook Coles shoulder.

"Cole? Hey buddy."

"Mmm.."

"Cole, come on, wake up."

"Idunwana.." Cole dug his face further into the chair in protest.

"Come on dude, remember I said I was gonna help ya?"

"Mm..wha?" Cole blinked up at Jay, still clearly exhausted.

Jay smiled sympathetically. "Come on, lemme help you up." Cole winced at having to be pulled out of his comfy position. Jay gently held his arm as Cole slowly stood up, but couldn't help have a chuckle to himself at being reminded of how similar this was to helping his dear old Dad out of a chair.

"Alright, let's take a walk first to wake you up and help loosen you up a bit, can't have you falling asleep while I'm working on you." Jay led Cole slowly out into the garden and training grounds around the outside of the temple, hoping the fresh air would help wake up his friend.

Inevitably they walked past Lloyd and Kai. To Jays utter amusement the tables had somehow turned and Kai was on the ground on his stomach, Lloyd sitting on his back pinning him down, and had both of Kai's legs bent towards him in a head-lock and was scratching his fingers all over the soles of Kai's feet. Lloyd had an evil grin on his face, he was clearly out for revenge from earlier.

 _And he was loving every second of it._

Kai was in tears with laughter, his fists pounding the ground as Lloyd continued tickling his feet, showing no mercy. Kai tried with all his might to squirm away, roll over, shake Lloyd off somehow, but Lloyd was having none of it, determined to keep his prisoner for as long as possible. Kai had a rather loud, macho-ish laugh, like he was trying to hold onto as much of his dignity as possible while in a very non-macho situation.

Cole looked utterly bemused at the scene before him, whereas Jay found it endearing. Luckily being so preoccupied neither had spotted the two friends walking past, which was good as Jay didn't want to invite questions.

* * *

After several more minutes of walking around the temple, and, judging by the way Cole was now almost sprinting ahead by himself without Jay needing to hold him up, Jay seemed satisfied that Cole was fully awake and ready for his therapy.

And so Jay led Cole into his workshop.

"Alright Cole, shirt off and take a seat." Jay demanded, pulling over a small stool for him to sit on.

Still feeling rather uncomfortable, Cole complied and slipped off his hoodie and shirt, revealing his ripped chest.

And promptly sat on the small stool, feeling stiff as a board.

Jay could almost see the tension oozing out of him as he walked up behind him. "You need to relax Cole. If it helps, no-one else knows about this, I've made sure we won't be disturbed, and I promise I know what I'm doing, you don't need to look so nervous."

"I'm sorry Jay I've just…never had this done before." Cole replied a little sheepishly, head down out of embarrassment.

Jay held one hand to his heart and the other straight in the air, a sign of a solemn oath. "Don't worry, I promise it'll help. And who knows? You might actually like it and finally learn to relax for a change. You don't wanna keep being known as the up-tight "party-pooper" right?" Of course Jay would try to lighten the mood with humour, but truth be told Cole just…. didn't know what to expect.

"Well no but-"

"No more buts! This needs done! So, let's start with.." Jay gently placed his hands on Cole's shoulders, only for Cole to immediately recoil.

"I'm sorry! Did I hurt you?" Jay immediately retracted his hands.

"No-no I just…sorry, I guess it just kind of startled me." Cole looked away as he finished talking, feeling silly reacting the way he did.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Jay tried again. "Alright, I'm going to place my hands on your shoulders Cole and see what I'm dealing with, how many knots and stuff you have going on here, okay?" Hopefully warning him this time wouldn't startle him.

"Yeah…go ahead." Came the nervous, almost whispered reply.

This time Jay successfully managed to put his hands on Coles shoulders. To avoid startling Cole again, he took it deliberately slow and gentle to feel around for knots.

But barely got to his neck when Cole stiffened up again.

Jay removed his hands again. "Cole? What's the problem? Is something wrong?" Jay asked, worry now entering his voice as he realised Cole wouldn't turn to look at him.

"It's…it's nothing. Maybe..maybe this wasn't such a good idea." Cole slumped forward a little more, clearly annoyed his embarrassment got the better of him.

"It's only me Cole. You know I'm not going to hurt you." Jay was beginning to sound rather hurt.

"I know you wouldn't Jay, I know you'd never hurt me on purpose."

"Then what's the problem? Please Cole. I only wanna help you, you're clearly in need of it." Jay patted Cole on the shoulder for emphasis.

Cole sighed. He may as well tell Jay the real reason.

"Alright fine. It's just that I can't…I can't get it out of my head that you're not an enemy with his hands around my neck."

"But..you know I'm not. It's only the two of us here."

"I know I know, but, because I can't see you, the moment you put your hands on me my fighting senses kick in and it feels like an enemy trying to attack me from behind."

Jay could understand now he thought about it. They all had such finely tuned reflexes. It reminded Jay of the time Dareth sneaked up behind him, a mere touch to his arm and Jay immediately threw him over his shoulder, mistaking him for an enemy trying to grab him.

But if not seeing him was the problem, what could he do? He needed to stay behind him for the massage to be effective.

"Well how about if I sing? That way you'll be constantly assured that it's me and not an enemy."

"I thought the point was to relax, not kill me slowly." He couldn't help himself with that one, knowing how bad a singer Jay was.

"Hey it was only a suggestion! No need to be rude." Came Jays now mock-hurt reply.

"Sorry Jay, I guess this isn't gonna work out after all." Cole moved to stand up, but Jay gently pushed him back down again.

"Hang on Cole." Jay really wanted to help, he didn't want to leave Cole feeling this way. "How about if I just keep talking then? But I'll talk softly, merely a whisper. You'll barely know I'm here. Although…you will know I'm here 'cause that's kind of the point." Jay trailed off sheepishly, hand rubbing the back of his head.

Cole had to admire him, clearly Jay really wanted to help, and he couldn't deny him that.

"You know, that might be alright after all. Alright Jay, I'm all yours." Cole leaned back again, ready for whatever Jay wanted to try.

This time Cole allowed Jay to put his hands on his shoulders and gently feel around for how bad he was. All the while gently explaining what he was doing, and mumbling to himself whenever he found tight areas.

But man did he find a _lot_ of tight spots.

"Geez Cole, you _are_ bad. No wonder you're in pain! This is gonna take a bit of work man." Jay stopped briefly to roll up the sleeves of his blue hoodie to continue.

"Is it really that bad?" Cole craned his neck to look back at Jay.

"Let me put it another way, It's like your back is the *How-to* of knot-tying."

"Is it going to take a while?"

"No no, it's just gonna take more pressure than I thought. But please let me know if it hurts at any point."

"Of course."

As Jay continued massaging his shoulders, mumbling to himself while doing so, Cole had to admit the pressure from Jays hands felt _good._ It was a dull pain, but a good pain, the kind of pain you know was actually doing you good.

Cole could feel everything Jay was doing; muscles relaxing as knots came undone, tendons snapping back into place, smoothing out the various aches and pains.

Jay wasn't kidding about how bad some of it was. He'd resorted to using an elbow to really push down on his shoulders to loosen up one particularly tight muscle knot and even Cole had to let a small grunt of pain escape his lips, whether Jay had noticed or not he couldn't tell.

But soon Jay let up on his shoulders and let his hands travel down Coles back, easing the aches as he went. Cole felt rather tingly all over, while also feeling warm and fuzzy, and very much relaxed. He couldn't help but let out a pleasurable sigh as Jay started rubbing small circles into his lower back. He even allowed himself to relax fully and let his chin fall to his chest, allowing Jay full access. Not failing to notice Jay had actually stopped talking in favour of concentrating, and Cole found he didn't mind in the slightest. Either Cole had actually gotten over his fear from earlier and could fully trust that it was Jay behind him…or he was too far gone in pure tranquillity to care.

Done with his back, Jay now travelled to Cole's neck, pinching and pressing on certain areas to ease any stiffness, while always being mindful to avoid pressing down on his spine.

Much to Jays amusement, he discovered whenever his fingers lightly brushed the base of Coles neck, it caused him to jerk a little and let out a small giggle. Jay deliberately did this a couple more times just to see Coles reaction, very amused at the idea of his incredibly strong and sometimes stoic friend having a sensitive and rather ticklish neck, before mumbling an amused "sorry" and continuing properly.

Cole could've happily sat there forever. Never before imagining just how good this would feel. Eyes closed, smile on his face, utterly relaxed as ever.

All too soon however, Jay finished up. A quick final rub down over his shoulders and back, before stepping back, patting Coles shoulder while declaring he was all done.

Cole didn't react whatsoever.

With no reaction, Jay peeked to the side to look at Coles face, about to repeat himself thinking Cole hadn't heard..

..and couldn't help but smile warmly at the sight of Coles face, he almost looked in a blissful sleep.

"Hey Cole, you're all done." Jay whispered, tenderly brushing Cole's hair from his eyes.

Cole blinked several times, having been snapped out of his reverie; he looked up at Jay with the face of a kicked puppy.

"Aww it's over already?"

Jay chuckled, "Yeah buddy, how do you feel now?"

Cole reluctantly stood up, and slowly stretched, testing his back and shoulders.

And happily discovered the pain from before was all but gone, he felt like a new ninja.

"I feel…great actually." Cole rolled his shoulders, stretched his arms a little, touched his toes a couple times, testing for stiffness, but there was none. He turned to Jay, grinning. "Man, Jay that felt incredible!"

Jay blushed furiously at the praise, looking away in embarrassment, hands behind his back.

Cole had by now put his shirt back on, and before Jay knew it, Cole had enveloped him in a tight hug, genuinely grateful for his help.

"Thank you Jay, really. I never thought that would feel as wonderful as it did."

Though startled by the sudden hug at first, Jay happily melted against Cole, and returned the hug.

Cole was always the best at hugs. They were warm, soft, and above all, they were _genuine_. Cole had this way of making you feel safer than you've ever been in your life, nobody ever wanted a Cole-hug to end.

Sadly Jay knew he couldn't stay there forever and gently pulled away, but kept one hand on Cole's shoulder.

"Anytime buddy, and I mean that! Don't let yourself get that bad again." Jay pointed an accusing finger at Cole, telling him off almost like a parent.

Cole chuckled. "I'll do my best."

"You bet you will. Now, I'd better make sure Lloyd and Kai haven't killed each other yet."

Both friends walked out into the gardens of the Temple.

And were met with-

"Say Uncle!"

"No!"

"Say it!"

"Never!"

Kai had wrestled Lloyd into a headlock, playfully ruffling his hair while Lloyd struggled to free himself.

"Say 'Kai is the best while Lloyd snores with the rest'!"

"Neve-wait, you're the loudest snorer of all of us!"

"Dangit Lloyd that's not what I meant!"

Jay and Cole simply chuckled at the sight.

After all: _Brother sharpens Brother._

* * *

 ** _And there we have it! I sincerely hoped you all enjoyed reading :)_**

 ** _I admit I've been thinking of a possible bonus chapter where Cole returns the favour to Jay, think I should? I'd love to know everyone's thoughts on that ^_^_**

 ** _Please leave a review if you can! They help brighten an authors day :D_**


	4. Chapter 4 Bonus!

**Here is the bonus chapter you asked for where Cole returns the favour! I admit I struggled to find the right scenario, most of what I thought of took place after Hunted, but I'm reluctant to write about Hunted while most fans have yet to see that season.**

 **This one oddly enough struck me in the shower XD**

 **I hope you all enjoy it! And thank you so much to those of you who have reviewed, favourited and supported this story, you are all so kind and encouraging! :D**

 **MightyShipper: Thank you so much for your kind words! I hope this chapter lives up to your expectations!**

 **YellowNinja: Glad you are enjoying! I hope you enjoy this chapter as well :D**

* * *

The next morning, training was back on as usual in the temple grounds.

The usual sounds of grunts, thwacks, battle cries and the odd training dummy being torn apart, filled the air as everyone did their own thing, whether it be weight training, aiming practice, or hand-to-hand combat techniques.

Cole was especially enthusiastic during today's training. Thanks to Jay, Cole felt brand new and was running circles around the others, feeling happy and pain-free, like a wild animal finally being set free after being caged for so long.

Jay couldn't help but grin at Cole, knowing he was the one who made him feel this way.

Unfortunately Jay was so focused on watching Cole that he didn't notice Kai winding up for a round-house kick to his stomach. Jay noticed a moment too late and was caught completely off guard as Kai flew into him feet first. Jay, not having chance to defend himself, took the blow at full force and went careening backwards and _slammed_ into the Temple wall with a sickening thud.

"Jay!" Everyone exclaimed at the same time, the sudden crash grabbing all of their attention.

Kai got to him first, Lloyd close behind.

"Jay! Oh my gosh I'm so sorry! I thought you would dodge it! I didn't mean to-"

Jay groaned before weakly responding "It-it's alright Kai," Jay coughed a couple of times, the wind knocked out of him, "It was my fault, I should've seen it."

Cole knelt down next to Jay, arms around him to help him up. "Are you alright Jay? That was quite a hit."

"I think so-ouch!" Just as Jay tried to stand, his hand flew to his head, a pulse of pain coming from the back of his head.

"We should get you inside Jay and have you checked over for a possible concussion." Zane explained, helping Cole to lead Jay back inside.

Kai just stood there, hands to his sides, head down, feeling so guilty.

* * *

Sitting Jay down gently at the kitchen table, Zane began checking him over, his pupils, his responses, asking simple questions for any sign of confusion, but thankfully other than a headache, Jay didn't seem to be concussed.

Kai stood off to the side, watching the scene before him while his hands were fidgeting with guilt.

"It seems you've been lucky Jay," Started Zane, "but I would still advise you to take it easy for the rest of the day, just to make sure."

"That's not so bad buddy, least you get the rest of the day off." Cole responded, at the same time he began playfully ruffling Jays hair, but as his hand moved to the back of Jays head-

"Ow!" Jay immediately winced and ducked away from Cole's hand.

"Woah sorry Jay, are you hurt?"

"I'm..not sure, but something hurts." Jay attempted to reach behind his head to feel it for himself

"Let me see."

Jay lowered his hand to allow Zane to check for injury. Zane ever-so-gently ran his hand over Jays head, sure enough he could feel a small bump was forming on the back of his head.

Zane hissed when he felt it. "I almost missed that. Let me get you an ice pack Jay."

Jay buried his face into his folded arms on the table, annoyed with himself at the mess he was in from not paying attention while sparring.

"Oh dear."

"What's wrong Zane?" Cole got up to look in the medicine cabinet with Zane to see what the problem was.

"We appear to be out of ice packs, when last did anyone restock our medicine cabinet?"

"Huh, it has been a while. I guess now is as good a time as any to go shopping?" Cole offered.

"That would be wise, for now Jay, let me try something.."

Zane sat next to Jay, opened his wrist panel and flicked a couple switches, and then, gentle as can be, placed his open palm directly onto the bump on Jays head, the temperature of his hand now at freezing point.

Jay sighed in relief and leaned into Zane's hand, smiling, the coldness helping to numb his throbbing head.

"I'll go to the pharmacy." Kai offered, "It's the least I can do, I caused this after all."

Jay turned his head slowly to face Kai, hoping Zane wouldn't suddenly remove his hand, "Kai for the last time I don't blame you, it was just an accident, I should've been paying more attention."

Kai felt a little better at least, but nevertheless the guilt was still there. "Either way Zane's right we could do with a trip to the Pharmacy."

"I'll go too." Asked Lloyd, Kai nodded in approval.

"Actually now I think about it, we're pretty low on ingredients for dinner, I'll maybe go with you and picked up some groceries."

Zane, while keeping his hand on Jays head, immediately turned to Cole, scolding him almost like a parent.

"Oh no you don't Cole, we all know your shopping habits."

"Yeah Cole, last time we let you go grocery shopping, you came back with a dozen cupcakes, 3 tubs of frosting and 2 huge tubs of ice cream." Lloyd said, chuckling at the memory.

"And what's wrong with that? Nobody gave me a list!" Cole folded his arms, slightly offended.

"We only asked you to pick up some vegetables for a stew." Lloyd responded, still chuckling.

"Yeah well..I forget these things when surrounded by food okay?" Cole turned his back in slight embarrassment.

Lloyd, Kai and Zane good naturedly rolled their eyes at Cole.

"Be that as it may, I will go instead to make sure we get the right items for tonight." Zane's gaze briefly flicked to Cole before settling back onto Jay.

"I'm sorry Jay but I'll have to leave you temporarily, we won't be gone long."

Zane reluctantly removed his hand, Jay whined at the loss of the soothing cold.

Kai, Lloyd and Zane waved their goodbyes and trailed outside to summon their dragons and head into the city.

One by one, Jay and Cole could hear each individual dragon being summoned, and each roared enthusiastically as they took off, the roars soon fading into the distance.

Now peaceful and quiet, Cole suddenly remembered Zane's advice.

"Zane's right though buddy, you should go lie down for a while."

"Aww but I'm comfy here Cole." Jay hadn't moved from his position since they brought him in, he'd gotten rather cosy.

"Come on motor-mouth, if you don't want to lay in bed, you could at least move to the couch where you'll at least be more comfortable."

Jay only grunted in response, refusing to move.

"I could always set up one of the games consoles for you?"

Jay couldn't think of a counter argument to that and sighed. "Fine."

Jay moved to stand up…

…only to find he couldn't move.

"Uh-oh." He tried again to slide back from the table, only to find he couldn't move, his back had seized up.

"I..I can't move!"

"What?"

"I think my backs seized up!"

"How did that happen?"

"I guess the shock of impact after Kai hit me! Oh no what do I do?"

Jay began to panic, Zane told him to take it easy and this couldn't be helping.

"Jay…Jay calm down, don't worry, I'm sure we can fix this."

"How? The only one who probably could is Zane, and they won't be back for a while!"

Cole tapped a finger to his chin, humming as he tried to think of a solution. "Alright let me see something."

Cole walked behind Jay, and started very slowly and gently running one hand down Jays back, feeling for the problem.

"It actually feels like your muscles have seized up, as if to lessen the damage from the impact, your back does feel pretty stiff."

"So what do I do?" Jay stared at Cole wide-eyed, genuinely frightened he'd permanently damaged his back.

"You just relax and do nothing, this time-" Cole cracked his knuckles, "-it's my turn."

Jay looked at Cole in utter confusion.

"Uh what're you-"

"Shh now, just relax Jay."

Cole then placed his hands in the middle of Jays back and started making kneading motions.

Jay's eyes widened in realisation to what Cole was doing, then he sagged further onto the table in relief, burying his face further into his arms, eyes closed in bliss.

Cole was using Jays own massage techniques to help his back.

Cole was a quick learner, though he didn't quite have the experience Jay did, he already picked up the techniques pretty quickly. He made small circles with his thumbs in the small of Jays back, slowly going upwards as he went, then putting more pressure into the tight areas.

Jay buried his face even further into his folded arms, letting out a long quiet breath.

Maybe Kai kicking him wasn't such a bad thing after all? He could get used to this!

Cole worked gently but methodically, he could feel Jays muscles unwind and relax, releasing the tension from the impact.

He smiled warmly at Jay, who was clearly enjoying this. Encouraged, Cole happily continued.

Using his knuckles, Cole kneaded parts of Jay's lower back, now and then getting an involuntary jerk and a sudden giggle from Jay when he kneaded near his sides, thus discovering Jay was rather ticklish on his sides and ribs as Coles hands accidentally strayed a little too far.

Though only his back was the problem, Cole felt the job wasn't finished until he'd given his shoulders the same treatment. Though he made a mental note to avoid his neck, knowing it probably wouldn't help his pounding head.

And so Cole started kneading Jays shoulders, while unavoidably pushing Jay further into the side of the table but luckily Jay seemed too far gone to care.

Cole stopped briefly to check on Jay. His face pretty much buried in his arms, but from what Cole could see, Jay was the picture of pure contentment. Cole couldn't remember the last time he'd ever seen Jay this relaxed, he was always so quick to panic and point out problems. Seeing him like this was rare indeed.

Running his hands down Jay's back a final time, Cole seemed satisfied that he'd loosened up his back enough so that he could hopefully move again. He placed a hand gently on Jay's shoulder, reluctant to wake him but he needed Jay to get up and move just in case his back decided to seize up again.

"Jay? Buddy, how does your back feel now?"

Surprisingly Jay wasn't asleep like he'd thought, but whined that it was over.

"Aww it's over? That felt amazing dude!"

Cole looked away to hide a small blush forming.

Jay slowly and tenderly moved back from the table to try standing up.

He was elated to find that Cole's massage had worked like a charm. He could move around again! His back would still be sore for a little while due to the force of the impact, but nonetheless he could move again.

"Woah it worked? Cole thank you so much dude, I swear you are magic!" Jay took tentative steps toward Cole, eager not to do anymore damage to himself, and promptly threw his arms around Cole and buried his face in his chest.

Cole immediately returned the hug, wrapping his arms around Jay's slightly smaller form.

"You're welcome buddy." Cole's voice was muffled in the fabric of Jay's shoulder. "I had a good teacher after all."

Cole was absentmindedly rubbing one hand up and Jay's back. "Come on Jay, let's move you to the couch, at least that'll be easier on your back."

Jay groaned in protest, cosy as can be in Cole's arms, but reluctantly pulled away, knowing he was right.

Cole helped Jay into their living room, ordered him to lie down on the couch, then propped him up on some pillows, and even laid a blanket over him. Jay looked quite the cosy picture.

Now lying down, feeling warm and still tingling from the massage, Jay was already fighting to keep his eyes open.

Leaving Jay to himself, Cole left to make some tea, one of the few things he could make that was actually pretty decent.

In returning to the living room, he found Jay was fast asleep, a small smile still on his face.

Smiling warmly at the cozy sight, Cole set Jay's cup to one side, and ran a hand softly through Jay's hair, avoiding the bump on the back, and went back into the kitchen to leave Jay in peace and wait for the others to return.

* * *

Sure enough, a short time later the others came bursting through the door, shopping bags in hand. Cole immediately raised a finger to his lips at them, the universal sign for keeping quiet.

Lloyd, Kai and Zane all raised an eyebrow in return in confusion, until Cole silently pointed to the living room.

In super stealth mode, the others peeked in..

..and met the adorable sight of Jay asleep on the couch wrapped in a fluffy blanket.

They couldn't help but smile at the scene. Kai nodded in understanding to Cole, then they all piled back into the kitchen to tidy everything away.

Keeping his voice low, Kai asked: "So how is he? Is he feeling any better?"

"Oh he's much better, thanks to yours truly." Cole smugly pointed to himself then folded his arms, leaving the others confused as to the true meaning behind that statement.

And Cole planned to keep it that way.


End file.
